Patent Application
20250083779
This invention is in the field of offshore oil rigs. Existing offshore oil rigs are typically used for large deposits deep underwater, and are very big and immobile.
A portable offshore oil rig, which can be moved from small underwater deposit to small underwater deposit at need.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to clearly describe the embodiments disclosed therein. However, one skilled in the art will understand that some well known features have not been described in details so as not to obscure the invention.
Typical offshore oil rigs are immobile, and only used for large deposits. This oil rig is small, and can be moved between smaller deposits that would otherwise be passed by.
In the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to illustrate major features of the exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of every implementation and are not drawn to scale.
The portable offshore oil rig includes a raised walkway (1), a center pipe (2), a gliding jointed box (3), upper diagonal pipes (4a), middle vertical pipes (5), lower diagonal pipes (4b), upper horizontal pipes (11a, 11b), center flotational devices (6), side flotational devices (7), connectors for flotational devices (8) which connect the center and side flotational devices, CP pivot (9), a central jointed box (10), and eight corner jointed boxes (12).
The flotational devices may be pontoons, buoys, or any other known flotational device suitable for holing the drilling platform up.
The CP pivots (9) connect the flotational devices to three of the upper horizontal pipes. As illustrated in
The central platform forming a walkway is connected to the gliding jointed box and central pipe with hardened rubber rollers.
As the ocean moves up and down, the lower jointed box stays in a fixed position relative to the oil well, while the upper jointed box, which is a gliding jointed box, moves up and down as the flotational devices move. This means the upper box and platform attached to it both move up and down with the water, maintaining the vertical distance between the platform and the water, but the center pipe does not. This is accomplished by using telescoping pipes for the upper and lower diagonal pipes, permitting the lengths of the upper and lower diagonal pipes to vary. Alternately, the upper and lower diagonal pipes are attached to the jointed boxes such that the ends of the pipes can protrude beyond the jointed boxes, to allow for different angles of connection.
The central pipe has a first array of at least 4 magnets on each side, for a total of at least 16, around it at approximately the location where the central jointed box is located, and another array of at least 4 magnets on each side, for a total of at least 16 magnets, around it at approximately the location where the gliding jointed box is located. The basket or carriage has an array of at least 4 magnets to a side within the gliding jointed box, and the central jointed box also has an array of at least 4 magnets to a side. These magnets are rectangular in shape, and pinned or similarly fastened such that they can be rotated to reverse which pole is up. While the system is deployed, the magnets are positioned such that the magnets on the central pipe are in opposition to the magnets in the central and gliding jointed boxes. The magnets in the gliding and central boxes are connected to cables, which can be used to reverse their orientation, causing them to pull to the central pipe instead of push away, and therefore can be used to speed retraction for movement as well as to maintain deployment while the rig is in use to retrieve oil.
The magnets on the central pipe can alternately or additionally be connected such that their orientation can be reversed via cables. The magnets on the central pipe and in the gliding and central jointed boxes may have associated hydraulic arms used to reverse the orientation of the magnets. Furthermore, it is within the scope of this disclosure that the magnets used may be electromagnets, such that a reversal of electrical current will reverse the poles of the magnets.
The eight corner jointed boxes (12) have within them suitable sliding joints, double joints, or ball joints to permit the required motion of the diagonal pipes. The exact structure within the corner jointed boxes (12) is a function of how the diagonal pipes are connected and how they address the change in length as the angle changes between the diagonal pipe and the central and gliding jointed boxes. The eight corner jointed boxes, and associated pipes, may also have reversible magnets used to maintain pipe position and to ease changing of pipe position.
The lower horizontal pipes also have two propellers on the outside of one of the pipes, which can be used to move the rig or to maintain position, as needed. There are as many lower horizontal pipes as upper horizontal pipes, and in the preferred embodiment, there are propellers only on a lower horizontal pipe on the same face of the basket as does not have flotation devices. However, the presence of propellers on the same face as flotation of devices is considered an alternative embodiment of the same invention.
The entire rig can be collapsed to fit within the footprint of the platform forming the raised walkway to enable movement of the rig. This can be accomplished via a winch or pulley system, or other conventional means. The side flotational devices can be retracted into the flotational device containers, and in the preferred embodiment, the CP pivot connecting the flotational devices to the basket can be used to ‘fold’ the flotational devices up or down to be aligned with the basket, down being the most preferred embodiment. The length of the CP pivot is similar to that of the vertical pipes, but need not be identical; for example, in an embodiment with propellers on the same face as as a flotational device, the CP pivot must be either enough shorter than the vertical pipes or enough longer than the vertical pipes to prevent interference between the flotational devices and the propeller when collapsed for movement.
The central pipe, as depicted, may be the drill string pipe, or may be a marine riser holding the drill string, drilling mud, and other conventional drilling components for ocean drilling. In the preferred embodiment, the central pipe is the drill string pipe, and is used to apply force to the drill site.
While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Such variations and alternative embodiments can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a” and “an” indicate a single element, while “the” may refer back to single or plural referents. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains.
The above detailed description of exemplary and preferred embodiments is presented for the purposes of illustration and disclosure in accordance with the requirements of the law. It is intended to be exemplary but not exhaustive, and is not intended to limit the invention to the precise forms described, but only to enable others skilled in the art to understand how the invention may be suited for a particular use or implementation. No limitation is intended by the description of exemplary embodiments which may have included tolerances, feature dimensions, specific operating conditions, engineering specifications, and the like, and which may vary between implementations or with changes to the state of the art, and no such limitation should be implied therefrom. Applicant has made this disclosure with respect to the current state of the art, but also contemplates advancements and that adaptations in the future ma take into consideration those advancements in accordance with the then current state of the art. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims as written and equivalents as applicable. Reference to a claim element is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated. No claim element herein is intended to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the exact phrase “means for . . . ” and no method or process step herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. section 112(f) unless the step, or steps, are expressly recited using the exact phrase “step(s) for . . . ”.
